I just started taking a haute couture sewing techniques class at Fashion Institute of Technology, and I’m so excited about what this is going to do for my hand sewing. I don’t know what happens—I’ve learned to be so patient with every aspect of making a garment, except when it comes to the finishes. By the time I get to that hem and those closures, I just want to get it done and get it over with already. Well, not when it comes to haute couture sewing. The first class was just about the slip stitch. That’s right—I have five samples I have to produce using the most delicate, intricate and invisible of slip stitches. If that won’t drill careful hand sewing into me, I don’t know what will. Two great books that the professor recommended are the classic Reader’s Digest New Complete Guide to Sewing and Claire Shaeffer’s Complete Sewing Techniques. Guess you know what I’ll be doing all weekend! Stay posted each week as I give you the scoop on my class. Of course, I had to go out and buy a bunch of sewing supplies, most of which I already own, but can’t find—that was the best part. Hey, you can never have enough sewing supplies, right?

Thanks—I’ll try to write as much as I can. I was also self-taught for so many years and was greatly mistaken about the slip stitch for most of my life, so it’s wonderful to learn about hand stitches as they really give a garment that finished look.